History in ruins: Unarmed watchmen guard Buddhist relics at Jaulian

Unprotected heritage sites are at risk of vandalism.

HARIPUR: Dark and swarthy, Ilyas is a watchman at the heritage site of Jaulian, Pupla, 20 kilometres from Islamabad. Though he guards a national treasure, like the eight other watchmen for the Buddhist era ruins, he has no gun. Their only security is their proximity to a defence production unit.

To strengthen the security arrangements at Jaulian, he suggested that a gate be constructed at the Usmanabad entry road which bifurcates from the Khanpur road to save the relics from thieves and vandals who come from outside and cannot be distinguished from residents of Usmanabad village, in the middle of PMO and Jaulian.

Khizar Khan, the head of the village and a former National Assembly seat contestant, told the Express Tribune that he had been trying to beef up the security of the site but the authorities do not pay any attention.

The local people had turned the area into a green spot for visitors but there is still a lack of basic facilities like drinking water, hospitals and schools for the village people.

The youth, mostly idle and having nothing better to do, were turning to negative activities.

He said that the villagers had always welcomed foreign tourists and invited them into their homes, serving them local fruit and providing them with a place to rest, in the process bringing a good name to Pakistan; but the government had done nothing for the betterment of the area.

The villagers who had given their land to the government for the construction of the defence facility were still waiting for compensation after 20 years. He said the condition of the village was no different than it must have been in the ancient times when there was no electricity or other modern facilities.

Khwaja Muhammad, a visitor from Gujranwala, said he was dismayed by the poor maintenance at the site where rainwater kept standing near the relics, endangering their preservation. He said that it was a shame as foreign visitors would get a very bad impression of the country if they saw a national heritage site in this condition.

The official in-charge, Deputy Director Bahadur Khan, could not be approached as he was not available in his office during office hours.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2010.